happening now, breaking news. closing the gap. new national polling showing a trump/cruz dead heat. kasich surge. a disappointment for marco rubio. >> closing countdown, just two hours away from our first results in four states including two that could help cement the lead for some and ice it for

otherses. >> exit polling. the outcome tonight and what's driving voters to turn out today. >> marco-mentum. does rubio have it in florida, campaigning hard? >> turf talk, why john kasich believes he'll win his home state next week. will his performance tonight in michigan be the key? i'll ask him. he joins us. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> and you're in "the situation room." we begin the hour with a lot going on including new polling that shows the race at least nationally is now a statistical dead heat between donald trump and ted cruz. take a look and ask yourself, is this the beginning of a whole new race? trump leading. cruz second. but within the margin of error, john kasich third, marco rubio now in fourth place. any or all of those numbers could move, though, after tonight. plenty about to unfold as the

results begin to come in. first from mississippi then michigan. idaho and hawaii. it's getting really interesting for all of us. paulo sandoval starts out with with what voters have been calling him tonight in jackson,villevilljackson mississippi. how busy has it been where you are? >> reporter: a steady flow and the 12-hour window for people in mississippi to close theast the ballot. we expect the after work crowd to begin to make their way. what's interesting here, wolf, the moment the people walk in, decisions to be made, go to the republican table or the democratic primary table to my right, after where they take their ballots and cast them and make their way out of here. we really have seen a mix of voters here, wolf. we have seen obviously people voting on the democratic side and then what's interesting here, too, many of these crossover voters as well, so here in mississippi, a state that's now sharing the spotlight

with three others on this second super tuesday, it's not necessarily just about the people who are voting for the person that they want to win, but the person that at least casting their vote in order to try to -- for the person they do not want to win. interesting dynamics in the south, wolf, only two hours left for people to cast their ballots in mississippi. >> you've been talking to voters over there. what have they been telling you? what's on their minds? >> reporter: well, the economy obviously a heavy issue here in the south. this is a place where obviously based on -- there is no solid national polling, so really it's very difficult to predict who is expected to come out the winner on both sides of the aisle here. but i can tell you some of the conversations that i've had with some of these individuals as i mentioned, many of them really voting for the other party. one particular person who is a loyal hillary voter in this case picked up a republican ballot in order to be able to vote for john kasich. in their own words, trying to help derail this trump train,

but we also have seen plenty of trump supporters as well, in fact, just yesterday a venue, a large venue, only a few miles from here, was packed as the republican front-runner took the stage. in front of many, many supporters, wolf. >> he did, indeed. all right. thank you very much. michigan tonight is crucial for democrats and republicans alike especially that it looks a whole lot like some other key states namely ohio, illinois, and pennsylvania. let's go to the detroit suburb of warren, michigan, where jean casarez is standing by. what's the turnout been like where you're at today? >> reporter: it's been constant. let's look over here. we have a line. people are continuing to come in. this is a large room. it can accommodate a lot of people. we're seeing so much diversity here today. ethnic diversity, cultural diversity. we're seeing so many people bringing their young children here, we're seeing senior citizens. people are walking here with their walkers and canes and wheelchairs. i mean, the turnout just shows

the passion and some of the results, what they're doing here, i think, is extraordinary, if not surprising. i spoke with a lifelong republican from warren, michigan, right, which is the heart of the auto country, and he said that for the first time he was switching lines and he was going to vote for bernie sanders. and that was because he believed bernie sanders was for the people and for the people of the auto industry that need help so badly. and this is an open primary. you can be registered democrat and vote republican. you can be registered republican and vote democrat. i spoke to another lifelong republican who said that they had voted for john kasich. we're hearing donald trump and john kasich saying that if kasich got the nomination, he didn't think he could beat hillary, but he would vote for hillary before he would vote for donald trump. that is a lifelong republican. >> jean casarez, thank you very much. and even as voters have been casting ballots, we're also learning important new

information about who they are, what the demographics look like. what issues are driving them on this day. our political director, david chalian, is back with us once again with more information on the exit polls we're getting and some fascinating numbers. >> it really is. you want to understand why you hear certain issues highlighted on the campaign trail by the candidates, these numbers explain why. it's what the voters are concerned about. in michigan, and in mississippi on the republican side, economy is one of the top issues. take a look at this. in mississippi, 81% of republican primary voters are very worried about the direction of the u.s. economy. in michigan, 63% are very worried about the u.s. economy. and in this specific economic concern about trade, this is fascinating. a majority of republican primary voters in mississippi, 53%, believes trade with other countries takes away u.s. jobs. and in michigan, we also see a majority that says trade with other countries takes away u.s.

jobs. so, wolf, why you're hearing so much about that is because a majority of the electorate in these two different states, but majorities in both of them, are worried that takes away american jobs. >> those are big issues for bernie sanders and donald trump, he keeps talking about trade all the time. what about immigration? >> here we see a little bit of a difference between the two states and i think it's really interesting. in mississippi, we asked people whether or not illegal immigrants working in the united states should be deported or offered legal status. a majority of republican voters in mississippi, 51%, say they should be deported to their home country. flip-flop that with michigan. take a look at this. 56%, an even greater majority in michigan say that they should be given legal status. only 37% of michigan republican primary voters today say that these illegal immigrants should be deported. >> very interesting numbers, indeed. david chalian, you're crunching the numbers, you'll be back. >> we're back with the panel, john king, david borger,

nia-malika henderson. let's start with our analysts and reporters. let's put up this new "wall street journal" poll we've just been getting. let's take a look. republicans' choice for nominee, 30% donald trump, ted cruz in second, very close within the marcher of error at 27%. john kasich moving up past marco rubio. some fascinating numbers, certainly good news for john kasich. we're going to hear from him within this hour. but also this closeness between trump and cruz, john. >> and yet national polls tell you as david noted earlier, clearly signs of weakness in trump, clearly signs of reassessment throughout the republican voters. that's bad news for rubio, discouraging news for trump in that he's coming down. the question is, we don't have a national primary. we go state by state. and right now donald trump is winning. and if he wins more tonight, then we go into march 15th, he'll have a big delegate lead. even if he's starting to weaken nationally, is it too late to stop him is the defining question? >> "the wall street journal" poll also suggests they to some hypothetical matchups and trump

loses in matchups with cruz and with kasich. and also with rubio, but with a smaller margin. the question, for trump, is when you get down to one-on-one, right, what states are you going to be in? and the states that are coming are very good. >> new york. >> new york. >> maryland. >> right, exactly. >> i don't see -- i mean, maybe cruz can beat him one-on-one anywhere. that will be the question if we get there. if you look at the demographics of these states, you'd rather be donald trump and ted cruz in the new york primary, new jersey primary, maryland primary. >> this poll is terrible news for marco rubio. it's hard to see how he ones florida. i believe a man to keep an eye on is john kasich. if he can come in second tonight, really challenge -- >> he's the only person who can take a wheel off trump's caravan. >> he's the one who sort of hasn't gotten his hearing yet in terms of -- >> right. >> -- momentum. you see now, maybe you can coin

the phrase kasich-mentum, sounds ridiculous as did marco-mentum. >> where did that go? >> kasich chaos. >> you know, he has sort of this compassionate conservative thing going on. he's obviously got a strong showing in ohio. >> right, and he's got ohio coming up. >> he's got ohio and doesn't seem like he's going to have the same battle there that marco rubio's -- >> you know, and -- you got to win, it's true. >> a simple rule in every sport including politics, keep coming in second and third, maybe we give you a participation trophy but you don't get the prize. the prize is the nomination. if you want the prize, i agree, if kasich wins ohio and rubio loses florida, kasich is gone. if trump gets those delegates, the math -- we'll see what happens -- >> at some point you have to win. >> kasich all along, mary katherine, the argument he's been making is, look, i'm going to win ohio. once i do that i'm going to get my time in the sun, people are going to pay attention much more to me, i'm going to have

momentum. is it too late for that is. >> definitely too late. this is an outsider's election. ted cruz called mitch mcconnell a liar, disliked by everyone in the senate, plus trump commands 70% of the vote and we see dissatisfaction among the establishment lane. marco rubio is being rejected in each of these races pretty badly. comes two points from beating him in kentucky, likely going to beat him in many states tonight. there's dissatisfaction among the establishment lane only commanding 30% of the vote. when you have discontent and dissatisfaction with the establishment, you can't even consolidate around one candidate, it's problematic. >> this is the reason why chaos reigns. three weeks ago we said kasich is going to lose, he'll hang in until ohio. rubio looks at this, i'm hanging in until florida, i can have a second surge, chaos reigns. the way it's set up, second, third, fourth place do matter for a long time. >> there's an incentive to just

stay in it hoping something just crazy happens. >> you got all those delegates you can do something with. >> another thing about kasich, kasich has not been hit yet. no one has turned their attention to attacking kasich. he's been able to basically go off on the side as basically rubio and cruz and trump have pummeled each other. the interesting question will be as we get closer to ohio, let's say kasich does do well in michigan, does donald trump then turn his attention to kasich and can kasich take a punch? we don't know that yet. >> we also see what strategy does and doesn't work because the strategy that marco rubio employed, i'm sorry to keep harkening on marco rubio's strategy or lack thereof, but going down in the mud and wa wallowing with donald trump did not work at all. >> i think other people are benefiting from that attack. >> i agree. what i'm saying -- correct. other people did benefit, but it didn't benefit from the attacker. >> right. >> what it did was benefited everybody around him. >> just like chris christie,

it's the same thing, sacrifice fly. >> ongoing because today he's 50%, 47% of the spending against trump in these states and he's not going to pick up these states. >> you can -- i think -- i think that kasich's rise also illustrates the importance of these debates in this whole race. he has set himself apart. in the last debate in particular. he was a nice guy, he was the dignified guy. >> he's consistently been that. >> he's consistently been that way. gradually, he's bringing a different axis to bear, do you want somebody who's crew and bombastic and narcissist and just blows your mind out versus a dignified candidate? >> rubio go after him in this next debate, our debate on thursday in florida, does rubio start to turn his attention to kasich? >> that's why the debate is so important on thursday. i mean, we always get to the point where we say the next debate -- because you're going into ohio, because you're going into florida, is that important because now kasich has that bull's-eye and marco rubio literally running at the bottom of the poll has absolutely nothing to lose. >> everybody, we're going to continue this discussion. a lot to talk about. also ahead, we're going to

hear from the cruz camp on the senator's effort to overtake trump. he's campaigning right now in north carolina. a boost from that new poll. we'll hear from tonight's other polling beneficiary, john kasich we've been talking about, he joins us from ohio, his home state. later where the two democrats are both looking for a big momentum boost in michigan. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like social media equals anti-social. hey guys, i want you to meet my fiancée, denise. hey. good to meet you dennis. when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow.

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you may have ibs. bloating? ask your doctor if non-prescription ibgard is right for you. ibgard calms the angry gut. available at cvs and walgreens. as we count down to results in four key states. unifying theme on the republican side seems to be looking ahead. john kasich's in ohio. ted cruz is in north carolina. donald trump and marco rubio, they're in florida. all states holding their primaries next tuesday. marco rubio's trying to avoid the embarrassment, not to

mention the crippling blow of losing his home state. he says that's not going to happen. jason carroll is joining us from florida where senator rubio's got an event tonight. jason, marco rubio is talking to voters, florida today. what's the campaign saying about their chances for wins tonight in the four states where there's actual voting going on? >> reporter: yeah, well chances slim at best. woman, they're not expecting to have any wins tonight. what they're hoping for is to keep accumulating delegates. in terms of showings they're hoping for a strong shows in places like idaho and hawaii, but, again, not expecting any wins tonight. they're managing expectations. what they are doing is focusing on the big prize and for them, that's obviously florida, his home state. it is a must-win for marco rubio. the campaign knows that. that's why they were campaigning in tampa yesterday, campaigning here today. we'll be in the state again tomorrow. they are hopeful that they can take florida, they know if they

cannot take florida, they're going to have hard decisions ahead of them. >> there's new poll numbers we've been reporting to our viewers as well. take a look at this. republicans' choice for nominee, 30% right now for trump, 27% for cruz, 22% for kasich, 20% for rubio. that's national. national numbers. the nbc/"wall street journal" poll, among republicans, once again, nationswide. any reaction to those numbers? >> reporter: well, look, obviously those are not the numbers the rubio camp wants to hear, but what the rubio camp will tell you is, look, polls change and they feel as though they have the good ground game here. they say, look, we know this state, have the database, know where our voters are, know when to key in on voters to get them out. they're encouraged by early voting here in the state which they say seems to show voters shifting toward rubio rather than trump. so obviously not the numbers they want to hear, but they're going to stay on message that trump is dangerous, trump is not the real conservative, and that

rubio is the only one who can unite the party. >> jason carroll, thanks very much. just like marco rubio, ted cruz is already looking ahead as well. he's campaigning hard for next week's contest in north carolina. right now, he's just outside charlotte, so is our sunlen serfaty. what's the senator saying about this new national poll? >> reporter: well, he's feeling very good, wolf. he came out here on the stag p kannapolis, north carolina, drawing the impression the wind is at his back nationally and saying pointblank he has momentum on his side. here's what he said to the crowd just moments ago we. >> we know we are closing the gap in state after state after state after state. we though that just a few minutes ago a new "wall street journal" poll came out that had us in a statistical tie for first place nationwide with donald trump.

>> reporter: and later, he went right after donald trump in a big way, really mocking trump as an insurgent candidate saying to the crowd in north carolina if you think donald trump is insurgent, comparing him to george soros, he said donald trump has been lining the pockets of politicians in washington and really looking ahead, wolf, to march 15th, the next big primary day on the calendar here in north carolina. they will vote here, and ted cruz calling a big, big day for his campaign, clearly really pointing all arrows to that day where he feels it could be a breakout moment for his campaign. wolf? >> sunlen serfaty reporting. let's get more on the cruz campaign. joining us the senator's campaign communications director alice stewart. alice, thanks very much for joining us. i'll get to those new poll numbers. cruz doing very well right now in that new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. do you expect to win any of the four contests tonight? >> well, we're looking forward

to the results coming in this evening and at this point, wolf, as you know, it's about the delegates, racking up as many delegates as you possibly can and receiving the magic 1,237 number of delegates. look, this poll released says a lot of things, what we've been seeing for quite some time, the race is tightening. this has been a two-man race for quite some time. the fact ted cruz is at a statistical dead heat with donald trump says a lot. the head-to-head matchup between ted and donald trump shows ted would beat him. ted cruz, head-to-head matchup against donald trump to be able to defeat him, what we've been saying for some time. the polls show that. that's why more and more people are galvanizing and coming behind ted cruz because they know the inevitable is ted is the person to take on dronald trump and certainly to beat hillary clinton in november. >> senator rubio said today a

vote for ted cruz in florida, next tuesday, is a vote just supporting donald trump. listen to this. >> he earned florida. if you vote for john kasich or ted cruz, you are voting for donald trump. i am the only one that can beat him in florida. i am the only one that can stop him here. >> all right, alice, your reaction. >> well, i think the poll today shows the trajectory of marco rubio's campaigns. fourth place there. he's had a difficult time in the past two weeks, he's been talking about spray tans and the size of donald trump's hands. that's not a winning strategy. what we've seen over the last several weeks and months are more people are recognizing that we have a two-man race here and it is between a true, consistent conservative which is ted cruz, who has been out there talking about the issues and policies and the economy and how we can do away with the irs and fight isis, and we have donald trump who has a campaign of insults and attacks. and the fact that we're in a statistical dead heat at this

stage of the game with trump goes to show that more people are rallying behind ted cruz and we expect to see some good numbers tonight bringing in more delegates and going into march 15th on a good note. another key factor with our campaign that's showing tremendous success is our fund-raising. we've announced $70 million raised, the most of any campaign. we've raised $1.5 million on super saturday over the weekend. the fact that people are not just showing their support at the ballot box, but at the checkbook, we have average contribution of around $61. this is a true grassroots campaign and we're seeing evidence of that at each and every state and caucus. as you know, it's about bringing in the delegates tonight. >> all right. we'll see what happens tonight. alice stewart, thank you very much. just ahead, governor john kasich joining us live on this second super tuesday. we're going to ask him what he thinks about the races right now, what's going to happen tonight, what's going to happen

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governor john kasich spent time campaigning in michigan today. one of four states voting, of course, on this super tuesday part two. he's in his home state of ohio where the primary happens in a week. a winner take all contest.

governor kasich joins us now. governor, your thought first of all on michigan tonight. also new national nbc/"wall street journal" poll that shows you now slightly ahead of marco rubio. >> i think the nbc poll says in the states going forward that there's basically a three-way tie, my understanding of that. i haven't seen it. polls go up and down. to the people of michigan, you know, i've got the record of economic growth both in washington and ohio, and tried to run a campaign that's raised the bar and i would just ask everybody in michigan, it's no too late to vote, to please get out there. if you believe we can do positive politics, politics in a positive way, i need wyour support. it's going to be close. really we'd love for you to get out there and give us a vote. >> best-case scenario, what are you hopes fing for in michigan? what do you think is going to happen by the end of the night, where do you see yourself?

>> anderson, we're going to have a strong showing. where we're going to come out, i don't know. from what i understand at this point, you know, we're neck and neck for second, and maybe just a few points behind first. i don't know. you know, you can't really trust all these exit polls. but look, we're going to definitely have a strong shows. remember, just about a week ago, i was at about 8% and we've really seen a surge. we'd like to finish the deal, but that's up to the voters of michigan. and anderson, if i spend anymore time in michigan, i have to start paying taxes. >> senator rubio said today in florida a vote for you or ted cruz is a vote to drup drup. donald trump arguing he's the only one who can stop trump in florida which votes next week along, of course, with your home state of ohio. to that you say what? >> well, we're focusing on ohio, focusing on illinois. you've, we've had campaign plan we followed all along. we never thought florida where we would be spending a lot of time for the simple reason with both marco and jeb, we didn't

think it was worth investing a lot of resources, but we're going to spend, you know, cover to cover up here in ohio and tomorrow i'll be spending some time in illinois. so we're going to win ohio. i mean, we had a boisterous crowd here tonight. everything that we're seeing on the ground is good. when i win ohio, it's going to be a whole new ball game. >> explain to me what that path is because you've said all along ohio is must-win for you and you feel you are going to win. how is it a new ball game? because the delegate count is still the delegate count. what do you see changing if you win ohio? >> well, the first thing is, anderson, you know, i'm starting to get the attention, my message is a finally being heard. secondly, the one thing we know about politics, whatever's true today is not necessarily true tomorrow. so we're going to take things one day at a time. you know, we'll be going to pennsylvania, we'll be heading to the eastern seaboard, we'll be heading out west. you just never know what's going to happen in politics but it's increasingly looking like, you

know, we may not have anybody that will have exactly the delegates they need but we'll see. i don't want to get way ahead of myself. whenever i talk about process, i always fail. all i know is this. the message of my experience, my record, my resume, the success we had in washington and ohio, bringing people together, making sure everybody can rise and that we're americans before we're anything else seems to be resinating, seems to be being in a position where people are beginning to hear it and finally, anderson, what i tell folks is don't wait for somebody to run in from the government, begin to solve problems where you live, because you are the spirit and the strength of our country. >> so do you see this going all the way to convention and then something happening at the convention that allows you to get the nomination? >> well, look, again, it's a long way to go. in this business, especially in this election, you never know what's going to happen. so for me, it was focus on michigan, you know, and now

focusing on ohio, spending some time in illinois, looking at some other starts, maybe missouri and doing the best we can now and taking it a day at a time. when you get ahead of yourself in this business, that's where you stumble. >> governor kasich, always good to talk to you, thank withdrew ve you very much, sir. back with our panel. john king is here. you hear what he's saying that after ohio if he wins ohio, he's confident that he will, things will change. >> things might change. again, ohio and florida, whether kasich and rubio win in their home states will have a lot about the race going forward. if they both lose, they're probably both gone. >> if rubio loses florida, you thuc think he's gone. >> he has not said that flatouts, almost impossible. i don't want to dwell on national polls. especially if he's in fourth place in the national polls, he's going to have a hard time raising money. he has to win florida, kasich has to win ohio. if rubio loses, kasich will become the establishment alternative. they don't like cruz, don't like trump. he's right -- john kasich when

he was in congress he helped balance the budget. as a governor, he can say he's a fiscal conservative but more viewed in the center of the party. would he have appeal in pennsylvania? sure. would he have appeal in maryland? sure. would he have appeal in connecticut, maybe new york? you have the frump fact the trump factorthere. viable in a race for president, that's a big deal. now, winning one state is not going to do it. it might get him started. he'd have to quickly deliver on other states. would it give him a steppingstone and a chance? yes. >> also interesting, i mean, even if he wasn't able to win, i mean, donald trump has said, i don't know if this is in governor kasich's thinking, but donald trump has said as a vice president he would be looking for somebody who has congressional experience, political experience. governor kasich, you know, has all that in washington and also he has been governor and he has not been attacking directly talking about donald trump's hands or anything else. >> he hasn't been attacking anybody, honestly. he's run this positive campaign.

i remember interviewing him, though, not too long ago and he said to me he'd be the worst vice president in history. which i think is a tape we would probably be rerunning. but he's a natural vice presidential candidate if he doesn't get to that. the question is, if trump went to john kasich, what would john kasich do? >> david? >> well, he -- it was a really interesting interview you had with him. he said i'd be the worst one, because i want to be my own man, i don't like being number two. >> right. >> and he has been a very effective number one as a governor of ohio. it's -- he stumbled early on. some of the things on planned parenthood i don't think have served him well, but i do think that his jobs performance in ohio, he's turned that into the highest increase in jobs anywhere in the midwest now. that's something he can bring to the table. >> remember the days everybody talked about governors as -- >> yeah. >> easiest path to president.

that certainly hasn't turned out this time. >> one, i think donald trump is now paying a price for not having a strong senior team around. >> that's an interesting point. >> who can really help him. he's in -- this is tough going now. >> he has no -- they do no internal polling. he's basically getting polls like we are. >> he needs somebody like a jim baker, one of the top guys who can help you. the kind of stuff going on in these rallies with these -- senior adviser would say, cut that stuff. >> kayleigh, as a trump -- do you think it's hurting him. not having a large team around him on the ground? >> i think he does need more of that. we look forward to the cnn debate thursday. if he had a strong senior adviser, that senior adviser should look at him and say, look, attacking is fine, that's what you do, but attack ted cruz substantively because ted cruz has benefited from the sparring we've seen between rubio and trump. he's the guy on the outside talking about policy. i wish he did have a senior adviser who would look at him

and say, hey, paint ted cruz as a political insider doing dirty tricks on the campaign trail, paint him as the guy who can't get along with his senate colleagues. a president who gets things done when you can't cooperate with your colleagues? do those sort of attacks rather than getting into the personal ad hoc. >> he's done some of that already, donald trump has. this is the classic donald trump philosophy. if you read the art of the deal, this is his whole thing. it pays to play a little wild, and sometimes it works and it has worked for him all this time. i think -- you know, if you look at kasich, turning back to that conversation, one of the things kasich has proved is he can do well among a diverse set of voters. he did very well among african-americans. >> right. >> in his last election. something like 22%. did very well among african-american men. something like 26%. he's got a real case to make. the question is does he have enough time to make it? >> the question is, is john kasich -- is governor kasich and john weaver's strategy really that genius? because he's hung around, he's hung around.

he's played this role of being a humble, noble servant, all he wants to do is serve the people and he does do extremely well in ohio. he won that race with 60-plus points. did well with african-americans. he has a strong record in congress. can always go back to that talking point, the last time we had a balanced bumg e e ed budg there, i did it. i don't know if he was a genius strategy or he's been lucky or both. weaver has himself in a candidate in a position marco rubio and others are envious. >> unlikely he's going to get to the 1,200 number. what you're talking about with kasich is the hope you're closes enough with both cruz and trump that in a contested convention the establishment rallies around you because you're the guy who's not going to lead the party to doom. >> i thing that's uniformly the hope if you're not trump is you end up with enough delegates -- >> he has the possibility of having a late surge more than -- >> a really epic surge. >> listen, we're getting ahead

of ourselves here. really depends. it really depends. does the late surge mean somebody other that trump wins pennsylvania and new york and connecticut and out west and indiana and california? those are big prizes. does somebody run the board? to the point about kasich, let's see what happens, let's see if he can win ohio and what he does next. if he takes off next, me hashe chance to be a contender. john kasich might not want to be vice president, but he might have enough delegates to help donald trump get -- >> we are only allowed to get ahead of ourselves after midnight. we'll have to wait. just ahead, we got new exit polling coming in plus the latest from inside the clinton and sanders campaigns including reactions to those two new polls out tonight showing the race is tightening. details ahead. don't you dare take that apart. don't you dare get any big ideas. don't you dare play with your food. don't you dare paint on the walls. don't you dare play games with me.

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we're getting s inting new data coming in. political director david chalian has been going through the numbers. what's the latest? >> we're looking just at michigan here on the democratic side, wolf. what we're seeing is both candidates are clearly speaking policy proposals that are resonating with the democratic electorate. big majorities believe their plans are realistic. take a look at this. hillary clinton's plans, 72% of michigan democrats say they're realistic, 23% not realistic. bernie sanders is in similar territory, or little bit lower,

but 61% of michigan democrats voting in the primary today say his plans are realistic, only 32% say they're not realistic. so while i know on our debate stage and elsewhere, secretary clinton has raised the question about senator sanders' policy proposals and if, indeed, they're pie in the sky or too unaffordable for the most people, michigan democrats clearly believe both of these candidates are presenting what they deem realistic policy -- >> interesting numbers. i know you're going to get more for us as well. stand by. david chalian, thank you. joining us now, robby mook, the hillary clinton campaign manager. robby, thanks very much for joining us. what do you anticipate out of michigan tonight? >> well, wolf, we believe that michigan's going to be closer than a lot of the public polling has shown, but secretary clinton has finished very strong the last few days. she had a great debate performance. she ran on an affirmative proactive message about how we create more good paying manufacturing jobs in michigan and around the country, so we think we're going to have a very

good night whether we win or lose in michigan, she will add to her delegate total that she accumulated starting back in nevada. between the delegates she earns in michigan and mississippi. i think the stakes for the sanders campaign are very high, however. they have been talking for some weeks about how important michigan is. they went all in, put all their chips on the table. they outspent us. they unleashed their harshest attacks to date. and they said this is a make-or-break state. we'll wait to see the results. we feel very good about a strong showing this evening. >> strong enough to win, is that what you're anticipating? >> we're optimistic, but we think the race is much closer than the public polls show, and look, this is a delegate race and so we are very confident that secretary clinton will add to that delegate total tonight. >> what about mississippi? >> we feel very good in mississippi. that is an important state in that delegate strategy. you know, senator sanders has

barely communicated to voters in that state and what we really see resonate is secretary clinton's message about breaking down those barriers about reforming our criminal justice system and what's why we've seen her leading with such wide margins in southern states and expect to see that again tonight. >> those are the two democratic contests tonight. what about looking ahead to next tuesday, a week from today, florida, ohio? these are huge states. north carolina, missouri. these are important states. illinois, i should say. >> absolutely, wolf. and as secretary clinton said at the beginning of this campaign, she is not taking any voter, any delegate for granted. she's been working hard. i think those states represent the coalition secretary clinton demonstrated she can win. hispanic vote e african-american voters, she won white voters on super tuesday. obviously women an important constituency. so she's been winning races from

texas to massachusetts to iowa to nevada. we believe that she has the coalition in place to be successful in those states, too. >> she ready for the big democratic debate, the univision debate tomorrow night in miami that cnn will also broadcast? >> well, absolutely, wolf. as i said, she's a very commanding performance in the last debate. senator sanders struggled to explain why he decided to vote against funding. the auto rescue. i think he's going to have to answer tomorrow night at the debate, and particularly the florida voters, why he repeatedly opposed immigration reform. which is such an important issue for our country, and particularly in this primary. >> all right. robby, look, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks so much, wolf. >> let's get more on the upcoming races next tuesday, primaries in five states, ohio, illinois, florida among them. just minutes from now, bernie sanders expected to speak at a rally in miami. our senior political

correspondent brianna keilar with more on the sanders campaign. brianna, what is bernie sanders doing in the final push for voters in michigan and mississippi tonight? >> reporter: well, wolf, i will tell you one thing that certainly the sanders campaign agrees with the clinton campaign on, and that is they believe the polls in michigan are a little tighter than what are reflected in the public polling we're seeing. the sanders campaign at this point thinks if the turnout is high in michigan, things will be going well for the mayor. what they're focusing on is see bernie sanders be very sharp on hillary clinton on, and that is trade. really coming out against her, relying on labor support in michigan. and painting some of her support of the past of trade agreements as a disastrous trade policy that she supported, that has hurt detroit. when it comes to louisiana, wolf, they're a little more realistic about their chances of the that's a little more of an

uphill battle for bernie sanders. >> what is the sanders campaign focused beyond tonight, looking ahead to next tuesday? >> reporter: big focus here in florida, including with latinos here in florida, we heard from bernie sanders' campaign manager, where perhaps a glimpse of bernie sanders will be charging hillary clinton with here in the next week of the when it comes to her policies and how they affect latino-americans, that her policies are ones of political expedience. so we'll see if that cops out. as well, we expect perhaps sanders of his story that he is the sob of immigrants, and this isn't just an academic experience for him as his campaign manager put it of the he'll also be focusing on ohio. some of the attacks you've seen in michigan, when it comes to labor, when it comes to the auto industry, i think we'll be seeing that as well replayed in ohio as well, wolf. >> a quick program note, hillary

clinton and bernie sanders, they will meet in a presidential debate hosted by univision tomorrow night, at 9:00 p.m. eastern. anderson and 360 will have a full hour of analysis and highlights, right after the debate tomorrow night, after the debate is over of the. just ahead for us here in "the situation room," what the candidates stand to gain or lose tonight, and why the stakes may be higher for a couple of them. john king shows us what's going on. i think we should've taken a tarzan know where tarzan go! tarzan does not know where tarzan go. hey, excuse me, do you know where the waterfall is? waterfall? no, me tarzan, king of jungle. why don't you want to just ask somebody? if you're a couple, you fight over directions. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. oh ohhhhh it's what you do. ohhhhhh! do you have to do that right in my ear?

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michigan and mississippi tonight. there's a lot riding on tonight's races. all the candidates for different reasons. john king is back at the magic wall to break it down for us. >> anderson, this could be a defining night in the race setting up a decisive contest next week of the starting with the republican side, no question ted cruz delivered two body blows to donald trump. the question is, can trump survive. look what trump is trying to prove. trump has already won across the south. this was supposed to be the wheel house, the foundation of the ted cruz campaign. trump has won most of the south so far of the then it's up to michigan, mr. trump hopes deliver a message both to the republicans, but to the democrats to say i'm going to be the nonl knee and i'm going to change the map in november. can cruz pull off an upset in mississippi or michigan or does

trump prove he takes the body blow but he has his momentum back. a chance perhaps for somebody else to get in the win column other than donald trump, but the big question michigan and mississippi. the dynamics are similar. just like trump, hillary clinton has run it up across the south. she wants to win big in mississippi to send the signal, the african-american voters, the base of the democratic party, she wants to say, hey, senator sanders, you simply can't compete. in mississippi for secretary. a defining test for bernie sanders. he said he's the candidate of blue collar voters of the he is the guy who will prove that people who work with their hands, the government will shaft you no more. michigan is an opportunity for sanders to change the momentum of the race. clinton needs to win there to say, senator sanders, you gave it your best shot, i'm on the way to be the democratic nominee. momentum and message at stake. also the math. hillary clinton enters the night

more than 200 pledged delegates up other bernie sanders. she hopes to run it up in mississippi, get a win in michigan to prove to senator sanders, stay as long as you want, but i will be the democratic nominee. >> the polls close in most of michigan, all of mississippi in an hour. idaho and hawaii later. we'll have the results and reaction of the another crucial day of voting. super tuesday 2.0 continues. >> the race for the white house is tightening as the remaining candidates fight it out in key states tonight. >> tonight's outcome could determine who stays in the wild ride to the nomination. >> new battle grounds in the presidential race. after a weekend of fresh wins for the front-runners and for their top rivals. >> millions and millions of people are coming to vote for the republicans because of me. >> four more states are weighing in, with both parties bracing for